Determining the states with the most similar voting preferences in American presidential elections is not straight forward. Many states did not gain statehood until later in the country’s history so there is less data on them. Furthermore, some Southern states were not allowed electoral votes during and after the Civil War. There are a few pairs of states that have arguments for being the states with the most similar presidential preferences.
- Most times voting for the same presidential candidate (53 times):
Massachusetts & Rhode Island - Highest percentage of voting similarly (100%):
Alaska & Idaho / Utah / Wyoming / Nebraska / Kansas / Oklahoma / N. Dakota / S. Dakota
Hawaii & Rhode Island
Most times voting for the same presidential candidate
Rhode Island has had electoral votes in every election, except for the first. Of the 59 contests, Massachusetts and Rhode Island voted for the same candidate in 54 of them. This is no surprise since these states border each other and have many of the same attributes. In the 1816 election, Rhode Island supported James Monroe, while Massachusetts supported the Federalist, Rufus King. 1836 was another contest where these two states did not agree. Daniel Webster got the electoral votes in his home state of Massachusetts, while Rhode Island supported Martin Van Buren. In 1852, Massachusetts favored another Whig Party candidate, Winfield Scott, while Rhode Island voted for Franklin Pierce. In 1972, Richard Nixon won every state against the Democrat George McGovern, with the exception of Massachusetts. In 1980, it was the reverse, as Rhode Island voted for the Democrat Jimmy Carter, while Massachusetts voted for Ronald Reagan.
Highest percentage of voting similarly
Hawaii and Alaska have only had electoral votes since the 1960 election. Therefore, there have been less opportunities for states to have voted differently than these states during that timeframe. Alaska has voted for the same presidential candidate in every election as eight different states. These states are all located to the west of the Mississippi. They include Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Like Alaska, these states are all sparsely populated. Since 1960, these states have voted for Republicans in every election, except for in 1964’s contest between Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater. In addition, Hawaii and Rhode Island have voted for the same presidential candidates in every election these states have both voted in. Despite their geographic distance, Hawaii and Rhode Island have long-standing histories of Democratic Party dominance, since their people tend to be more liberal than the rest of the United States.